In April, the Chinese navy abruptly deployed 10 warships near the Japanese coast and sent helicopters to buzz Japanese ships. In July, the Chinese foreign minister angrily asserted his country's claim to international waters in the South China Sea, along with some islands claimed by others. Last week, a Chinese fishing trawler smashed into two Japanese Coast Guard boats, possibly on purpose, leading to a Japanese arrest and a furious reaction from Beijing.

Throw in a few rhetorical outbursts -- the Chinese U.N. official who ranted a couple of weeks ago about not liking Americans -- and certainly it does seem as if Chinese military, territorial and diplomatic aggression is rising. It is an extraordinary development, largely because, from China's point of view, it doesn't make sense. Why on earth should China shout, bully and push its neighbors around? Over the past decade, China has kept silent, lain low and behaved more like a multinational company than a global superpower -- and garnered enormous political influence as a result.

The fruits of this success are everywhere. Look at Afghanistan, for example, where American troops have been fighting for nearly a decade, where billions of dollars of American aid money has been spent -- and where a Chinese company has won the rights to exploit one of the world's largest copper deposits. Though American troops don't protect the miners directly, Afghan troops, trained and armed by Americans, do. And though the mine is still in its early phases, the Chinese businessmen and engineers -- wearing civilian clothes, offering jobs -- are already more popular with the locals than the U.S. troops, who carry guns and talk security. The Chinese paid a high price for their copper mining rights and took a huge risk. But if it pays off, our war against the Taliban might someday be remembered as the war that paved the way for Chinese domination of Afghanistan.

America fights, in other words, while China does business, and not only in Afghanistan. In Iraq, where American troops brought down a dictator and are still fighting an insurgency, Chinese oil companies have acquired bigger stakes in the oil business than their American counterparts. In Pakistan, where billions in American military aid helps the government keep the Taliban at bay, China has set up a free-trade area and is investing heavily in energy and ports.

Which brings me back to my original point: Why on earth are the Chinese playing military games with Japan, threatening Southeast Asia or entering politics at all? When they stay silent, we ignore them. When they threaten boycotts or use nationalist language, we get scared and react. We still haven't realized that the scariest thing about China is not the size of its navy or the arrogance of its diplomats. The scariest thing is the power China has already accumulated without ever deploying its military or its diplomats at all.

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All responses must be posted in Mandarin. Wear gray or blue pajama like suits when posting and everything you post will be reviewed by the Party, so keep it on message, comrades!

China is asserting. Is the US strong enough to match them? All appearances say that we lose to China every day while they defeat us by increments every single day.

Is China the greatest nation on earth? Will they dominate the world economically within 2-3 years? Does the USA still have a spine?

In April, the Chinese navy abruptly deployed 10 warships near the Japanese coast and sent helicopters to buzz Japanese ships. In July, the Chinese foreign minister angrily asserted his country's claim to international waters in the South China Sea, along with some islands claimed by others. Last week, a Chinese fishing trawler smashed into two Japanese Coast Guard boats, possibly on purpose, leading to a Japanese arrest and a furious reaction from Beijing.

Throw in a few rhetorical outbursts -- the Chinese U.N. official who ranted a couple of weeks ago about not liking Americans -- and certainly it does seem as if Chinese military, territorial and diplomatic aggression is rising. It is an extraordinary development, largely because, from China's point of view, it doesn't make sense. Why on earth should China shout, bully and push its neighbors around? Over the past decade, China has kept silent, lain low and behaved more like a multinational company than a global superpower -- and garnered enormous political influence as a result.

The fruits of this success are everywhere. Look at Afghanistan, for example, where American troops have been fighting for nearly a decade, where billions of dollars of American aid money has been spent -- and where a Chinese company has won the rights to exploit one of the world's largest copper deposits. Though American troops don't protect the miners directly, Afghan troops, trained and armed by Americans, do. And though the mine is still in its early phases, the Chinese businessmen and engineers -- wearing civilian clothes, offering jobs -- are already more popular with the locals than the U.S. troops, who carry guns and talk security. The Chinese paid a high price for their copper mining rights and took a huge risk. But if it pays off, our war against the Taliban might someday be remembered as the war that paved the way for Chinese domination of Afghanistan.

America fights, in other words, while China does business, and not only in Afghanistan. In Iraq, where American troops brought down a dictator and are still fighting an insurgency, Chinese oil companies have acquired bigger stakes in the oil business than their American counterparts. In Pakistan, where billions in American military aid helps the government keep the Taliban at bay, China has set up a free-trade area and is investing heavily in energy and ports.

Which brings me back to my original point: Why on earth are the Chinese playing military games with Japan, threatening Southeast Asia or entering politics at all? When they stay silent, we ignore them. When they threaten boycotts or use nationalist language, we get scared and react. We still haven't realized that the scariest thing about China is not the size of its navy or the arrogance of its diplomats. The scariest thing is the power China has already accumulated without ever deploying its military or its diplomats at all.

Click to expand...

All responses must be posted in Mandarin. Wear gray or blue pajama like suits when posting and everything you post will be reviewed by the Party, so keep it on message, comrades!

China is asserting. Is the US strong enough to match them? All appearances say that we lose to China every day while they defeat us by increments every single day.

Is China the greatest nation on earth? Will they dominate the world economically within 2-3 years? Does the USA still have a spine?

Click to expand...

apparently not right now, or we would have massive exercises going on right now to match their shit.

All responses must be posted in Mandarin. Wear gray or blue pajama like suits when posting and everything you post will be reviewed by the Party, so keep it on message, comrades!

China is asserting. Is the US strong enough to match them? All appearances say that we lose to China every day while they defeat us by increments every single day.

Is China the greatest nation on earth? Will they dominate the world economically within 2-3 years? Does the USA still have a spine?

Click to expand...

Pffft, 2-3 years?! Maybe 20-30 at least, absolutely not in 2-3. China's GDP isn't projected to surpass the US's until 2030; and even farther ahead in per capita terms (at least over 50 years). As far as 'strong' goes, the US is still totally unsurpassed. Almost 700 billion dollars a year (4.2%) to China's paltry 100 billion (2%) for a nation three times larger in population.

No doubt China's assertiveness is concerning, but even with the rosiest of forecasts, China's future is far from clear. It would be surprising if the CCP was in power for another 20 years, and it is uncertain how China is going to deal with the inevitable transition from one-party rule.

In either case there's nothing to do about it. Even with all its military spending the US could not possibly invade China, and China could not possibly invade the US. A war would be either useless or end in total annihilation. Chances are that China's neighbours will likely have to endure the same treatment that the US's neighbors have for the past 200 years.

I don't know picking fights with India, Russia and Japan strikes me as an awful full plate of chest thumping to avoid domestic political problems. I think China may be headed towards partial collapse soon.

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